People may encounter one another online at dating sites, other social networking sites, business networking sites, and other websites designed to help people meet and interact through network communications. One result is that many people have not only an offline “real world” identity but also have one or more online identities. Communicating with other people through an online identity can provide a degree of anonymity. Anonymity can be abused, but it can also encourage candor. Anonymity can also help facilitate the exploration of personal and business relationships that may ultimately benefit everyone involved if initial contacts are not stifled by fear of personal vulnerability.
Anonymity also helps protect personally identifying information (“PII”) such as names, home addresses, and other aspects of offline identity. PII should be gathered and used only with the informed consent of the person to whom it pertains. Risks of improperly handled PII range from the inconvenient (e.g., an unwanted sales solicitation) to financial harms (e.g., credit problems after identity theft) to threats or actual physical danger (e.g., from stalking, or threats to loved ones). A variety of laws help protect PII. But perhaps the best measure to prevent harm is to give any person whose PII is sought adequate notice of how the PII will be used, how it will be protected, and why it is being sought, as an integral part of seeking their permission to use their PII.
This background was drafted with the present invention in mind. One of skill would not necessarily have combined any or all of the concepts that are presented together here.